Musing on yoga, wellness and living a healthy, happy life

February 08, 2012

Getting the Film Off Your Manduka Mat According to Manduka

I bought my first Manduka mat approximately 8 years or so ago and I had no problem with slipping from day one. I loved the thickness and the durability as well. Once I starting teaching approximately 4 years ago, I recommended the mat to my students who, to my disappointment, told me that they were slipping all over the place. I also witnessed them slipping in class so I started adding a caveat to my recommendation. "This mat will last you forever but you have to break it in." My students started searching the internet for ways to get the coating off. They used vinegar, soaked it in the tub and just straight up used it. All of these helped but the mat was still annoyingly slippery for a long time before officially being "broken in". So I decided to send Manduka a tweet. Here is the conversation. I am "wellnessyogini".

okay @mandukayoga what is up w/ the slippery coating on the new mats?I got my first 1 about 8 years ago & no slip from day one....

@wellnessyogini that's the film leftover from the eco manufacturing process. Breaking in your new mat is all about wearing off that film.

So, to sum it up:

Leave it in the sun

Salt Scrub

Use it

You guys go ahead and do that and let me know what happens. Maybe they will see this and do something about the annoying coating. After paying that much money, you shouldn't have to "break it in". I have a better idea, why don't they "break it in" before they ship them. If they don't want to be bothered with getting the coating off, we don't either especially after the price increase. I am sure that they can find some type of process or environmentally friendly solution that will do it.

Don't get me wrong, I still love Manduka & it is the only mat I will buy....wait...maybe that is why they are unconcerned with the coating....they have cornered the market.....hmmmm

27 Comments

Ok, trying my first salt scrub on this mat. I bought it, again, at the recommendation of my yoga instructor. I thought the slipping was just me. I was horrified I couldn't keep warrior positions or downward dog, or pretty much anything once I started to sweat. Horrible. Insane that I paid $100 for a matt I can't even use. Maybe I should go buy the $10 one at walmart instead. Here I thought it would be an upgrade...hope the salt helps, but my instructor at my new yoga place says hers is still not broken in and she uses it every week. I haven't been able to use it more than once a week yet (working on building my strength to go farther). Sadly, I bought it around a year ago and didn't get back to yoga soon enough to return it...

Thanks for the tips everyone. I bought my Pro recently but was sliding all over especially in downward dog (only with a bit of sweat). I did a salt scrub (which didn't work, I was still sliding) and followed this recommendation to use a Scotch Scouring Pad (but I also added some cleaning liquid soap disinfectant) and scrubbed it like crazy in a circular motion. It's been one whole day now and the mat is damp - it hasn't dried out completely and there seem to be small black bits of the mat that have come off as a result of the scouring and scrubbing. I now have a slippery mat with bits coming off and have no idea what else to do. Have any of you succeeded in getting your Manduka mats to be finally grippy? Would appreciate your help - am rather desperate and disappointed here..